How to unlock an iPhone

Unlocked-iPhone 4S

What is unlocking?

Unlocking is the removal of SIM restrictions on the modem, allowing the use of the iPhone on any carrier. The main reason to unlock your iPhone is if you want to use it with a different service provider (ie. switch from AT&T to T-Mobile). Here are 2 articles you may want to look at:

There are two ways to unlock an iPhone. You can either do a software unlock, which usually requires some kind of hacking, or you can do a factory unlock.

Official Factory Unlock for iPhone

The difference between a locked iPhone and an officially unlocked one relies on the addition of the device’s IMEI number to a database of officially unlocked iPhones. The IMEI is like a fingerprint, completely unique to your device. When officially unlocked, your IMEI is officially recognized in Apple’s database as unlocked. There are now a few providers that have the ability to get iPhones permanently unlocked for a small fee.

To our knowledge, this is currently the best way to permanently unlock an iPhone, especially since there is no software unlocks available for the latest iOS versions.

The main benefits of a permanent IMEI unlock are:

  • it’s simple, and official (registered as officially unlocked in Apple’s database)
  • it works with any iPhone, even on-contract (iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus)
  • it’s 100% guaranteed to unlock your iPhone
  • it works even if you are still under contract
  • the iPhone can’t be locked again, even if you update your device in iTunes
  • it does not void your iPhone warranty
  • no jailbreak or hacking required

How to get your iPhone unlocked?

There are dozens if not hundreds of services online that can perform a factory unlock on your iPhone. They usually vary in price and time, but there is one I have used in the past that I feel confident enough to recommend.

It’s a store on eBay that currently has 100% satisfaction rate. The listing looks a bit shady but whoever handles this is very reactive and has always delivered. Maybe even better, these unlocks are very cheap. Head over to that eBay store for more details.

If this specific merchant can’t help, there are dozens of others that will on eBay.

Software Unlock

This page is a reference guide for anyone looking to unlock the iPhone using software. Simply look for your firmware version and your iPhone model, then click on the appropriate tutorial. Note that at this time, software unlocks only work with older iPhone models that haven’t been updated to the latest software. If you’re looking for a reliable, permanent unlock, we can only recommend you do a factory unlock of your device (see details above).

Software unlocks used to be available for older iPhones all the way to iPhone 4. Devices that have been released after the iPhone 4 cannot benefit from a software unlock.

Unlock iPhone 6.1

Unlock iPhone 5.0.1

Unlock iPhone iOS 5

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.3.3

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.3.2

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.3.1

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.2.1

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.1

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.0.2

Unlock iPhone iOS 4.0.1

Unlock iPhone iOS 4

Unlock iPhone 3.1.3

Unlock iPhone 3.1.2

Unlock iPhone 3.1

Unlocking iPhone 3.0.1

Unlocking iPhone 3.0